Toledo TV viewing, by the numbers

Notes scribbled while sifting through Nielsen Media Research s 204-page report on November sweeps in the Toledo television market:

SIX AND THE CITY: As is usually the case during cold-weather months, more people watched the local news at 6 p.m. than any other time slot. The three stations WTOL-TV, Channel 11; WTVG-TV, Channel 13; and WNWO-TV, Channel 24 combined for 179,000 viewers.

The four late-night newscasts on WUPW-TV, Channel 36, at 10; on the three aforementioned stations at 11 combined for 137,000 viewers.

In July, when more people are out and about in the early evening, the combined audience for the late-night newscasts was 140,000, compared to 129,000 at 6.

Nationally, the order is reversed: NBC is the leader, followed by ABC, then CBS.

BANDWAGON REVERSAL: Where have you gone, Ken Jennings? The previous November, when Jennings was en route to a record 74 consecutive victories, Jeopardy! averaged 115,000 viewers on WTOL. With no Jennings this time, the average audience for the game show dropped to 86,000.

THE TOP FIVE:CSI (which airs on CBS affiliate WTOL) averaged 210,000 viewers, making it the No. 1 series in Toledo. Next was Desperate Housewives (on ABC-owned WTVG) with 167,000, followed by Survivor: Guatemala (WTOL) with 146,000, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (WTVG) with 137,000, and Lost (WTVG) with 123,000.

STUCK IN THE 60s: The three stations with morning newscasts WTVG, WTOL, and WNWO combined for 66,000 viewers. It was the fourth consecutive November that the combined audience has been between 61,000 and 69,000.

HOLIDAY SPECIAL: The night before Thanksgiving, about 146,000 people watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on WTOL. That s roughly triple the audience for the two CBS comedies (Still Standing and Yes, Dear) that normally air from 8 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays.

TRADITION: The annual Macy s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City aired on WNWO and WTOL and had a combined audience of 168,000 a drop of 26,000 from the previous year.

SWAN SONG: This was the final season for Monday Night Football on ABC. For WTVG, it ended on a high note with an average of 77,000 viewers. It averaged 71,000 in 2004 and 67,000 in 03.

LIKE A FINE WINE: Lawrence Welk died in 1992, but The Lawrence Welk Show still draws a crowd for WGTE-TV, Channel 30, at 7 p.m. Saturdays. The show averaged 16,000 viewers in November. In November of 2003, it averaged 13,000.

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